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Chapter 27

  They were arguing, again. Phi had given up on trying to calm them when they got into their shouting contests. Instead, he made his way to the kitchen to prepare some tea. Herbal tea with a hint of honey was quite soothing for a sore throat, which considering how intense this current argument was, they would probably both need some soothing.

  As Phi walked into the main room holding a tray full of tea, a chair crashed into the beam beside him, a shower of splinters pelted the side of his face, but even worse was that the pieces of wooden debris landed in the cups of tea. With a twitching eye, Phi turned back and dumped out the tea into the sink. Once more he walked into the main room, clearing his throat as he tried to get the attention of the others.

  Fel and Thoren were yelling in eachothers faces, the subject of the current argument was the same as it had been for the past week. Thoren brought up the valid point that they had rushed to Fulcrest to the point of exhaustion only to now be sitting on their ass’s with little to do for an entire week. Fel would retort that they were merely waiting to gather the proper information and then they could charter their path. To which Thoren would respond, that if Fel simply told them what the information they were looking for was in the first place, they could actually help. And finally, Fel would shake their head and look off into the distance with a practiced, ‘You aren’t ready to know.’

  Even Phi was growing tired of that excuse. Perhaps that was why he found himself walking toward Fel and placing a hand on their shoulder. “I understand that you are upset. But that is no excuse for throwing furniture in the house.” Said Phi politely. “You ruined my tea.”

  Fel seemed to shift sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I just… I wish you would both trust me.”

  Thoren groaned loudly. “Are we really going back to this again? How can we trust you when you are hiding everything from us?” He fell back onto the coach with a loud crash. “What is our goal? Where are we going? When are we going? What history do you have with this place?” He paused for a moment. “I could go on for a while.”

  “I get it!” Fel shouted, exasperated at the back and forth. “Look, once we leave Fulcrest I promise to tell you everything. For now, I have to go and meet my contact, we can talk more about this later.” They said as they hurried to grab their cloak.

  Phi watched as Thoren threw his arms into the air in frustration. With a sigh, Phi turned to Fel. “You told us that you would answer our questions when we reached Fulcrest, now the condition is when we leave. What’s stopping you from changing your mind again?”

  Fel seemed genuinely taken aback at Phi pushing the subject. They must have figured that he would never question the holy mission they were on. Fel opened their mouth to speak but Phi cut them off. “Even I have my limit to cryptic bullshit.” Thoren’s jaw dropped in response, perhaps he had taken it a bit too far.

  For the first time in his memory, Fel was completely caught off guard by his calling them out. “Phi, I understand. Look, when I get back, I’ll try and explain what I can. Okay?” They didn’t give Phi a chance to respond as they hurried out the door with their hood pulled over their face to cover their distinct looks.

  Thoren leaned his head back over the edge of the couch. “Saint’s take us, is there anything that bastard will give a straight answer to?” He asked aloud.

  Phi simply grunted as he turned back towards the kitchen, there was just enough hot water for one more cup of tea.

  As he made himself a drink, Thoren entered the kitchen, leaning against the open frame of the doorway. He had a troubled look on his face, a sight that was becoming more and more common with each day. “What’s your take on all this? Are we actually helping to protect the order of the world, or is this all some elaborate ruse?”

  Stirring his tea, Phi took a moment before answering. “I don’t think Fel is trying to mislead us. Though, I also don’t think they will ever trust us enough to give us the whole truth either. Perhaps they have a past trauma, perhaps their way of coping is to keep everyone and everything at arm's length.” He mused to himself.

  “Well, they are doing a great job on that front.” Thoren said bitterly as he made his way up to his room on the second floor. Phi could still sense Thoren as he began to meditate upstairs.

  Tapping his cup as he took a sip, Phi took a deep breath. Thoren wasn’t the only one who was feeling conflicted. Phi had left without a word to join this pilgrimage, spurred forward by a dream from the All Mother. Though as the days passed, the details of his vision had blurred into more of a nebulous feeling than anything more concrete. Now all that remained was this faint nagging sense that he had to continue on this journey, that to turn away now would spell disaster for the Empire. That didn’t make it any easier to sit still for a week without a single solid answer.

  It was about time for his morning exercise, one of the only things that had helped Phi make it through the last week of boredom and anxiety. Pulling his hood over his head, Phi stepped out the backdoor. Fulcrest had been built and rebuilt so many times that there were countless oddities to its civil engineering. Buildings were packed side by side, back to back, hells some were even built overtop existing structures. In this particular case the odd layout took the shape of this very out of place patch of beautiful grass that was roughly twenty feet by thirty feet. Across the small patch of grass was another house's backdoor. Phi had never expected to see a shared yard in the middle of the city.

  He stepped out into the yard, walking until he felt the morning sun kiss his skin. This deep in the city this field was lucky to get any natural light at all. He enjoyed the feeling of his bare feet on the soft grass as he took a series of breaths. When he felt ready, he began a series of practised movements, shifting through the various forms father Herschel had taught him. With clenched fists he slowly struck the air, correcting his form as he opened his hands and slid his feet to pivot his body to face another direction. Father Herschel had been insistent that Phi learn control, he had thought learning martial arts would be a great method to do so, plus, it would mean that Phi could defend himself if the need arose.

  The man had been correct. Slowly, Phi let his senses recede until he could feel nothing but the sun on his skin, the damp grass under his feet, the gentle rhythm of his breaths, the peaceful murmur of his heart. Soon even his body felt distant as he continued moving between forms. His mind disassociated, allowing his thoughts to float gently as he considered the situation he found himself in. Having calmed his mind Phi tried to recall what he saw in his vision in the hopes that it might hold the answers he needed.

  Flashes of light and color bloomed in his mind's eye as he dredged up the mostly forgotten scraps of his holy dream. He could feel the pieces of the vision sliding together, forming a mosaic of sights, memories of things yet to be, it felt so close, just another few moments. His mind felt a euphoric rush of elation like remembering the word that was on the tip of one's tongue. He saw for a brief instant the angelic figure that had appeared to him before and-

  A ball bounced off the side of Phi’s head.

  There was a pair of horrified gasps as Phi blinked rapidly, collecting himself after being so close to reaching enlightenment. Even as he began reaching out his senses once more Phi knew who he would find. With slight disapproval in his voice, Phi called out to the pair he felt creeping away in shame. “Kara, Ben.” He said in his most paternal cadence.

  The children froze in place as the youngest turned to face Phi. “We’re sorry mister Phil. We didn’t mean to hit you.” Ben said as he hiccuped in fear. It was still odd to respond to the name Phil, although Fel had been insistent that the trio try and use false names during their stay in Fulcrest.

  Phi turned to face the kids. The two were siblings in their teens, Ben the younger sibling and Kara the older. They lived in the house that shared the yard. Phi wasn’t too worried about the kids seeing him, thankfully between his deep hood and high collar there was little chance for them to see his face. “It’s alright, I’m not mad. I was just lost in thought for a moment. Let me guess, both of you were told to go play in the yard while your mom has her afternoon nap?” He said as he started moving through the forms once more.

  Ben nodded. “Yeah, she has another night shift tonight. So she told us to come play.”

  Kara stepped forward while watching Phi’s movements. “What are you doing?” She asked with a hint of wonder in her voice. The young woman was gangly for her age, her arms and legs having grown quicker than the rest of her body.

  Without stopping his meditation, Phi answered between his measured breaths. “This is a form of exercise that was taught to me by the man that raised me.”

  Ben cocked his head. “It kinda looks like you’re fighting bad guys.”

  Phi chuckled. “Well, these movements can be used for self defense.”

  With a frown Kara put her hands on her hips. “What! No way! What happens when someone tries to hit you with a sword, or a spear?” She scoffed.

  “You might be surprised how effective this is at stopping such conventional weapons. Especially when the wielder of said weapon isn’t expecting to be stopped with bare hands.”

  Kara huffed as she picked up something. Judging by the size and the way Kara held it, Phi guessed it was a pole for hanging laundry. Walking closer carefully, Kara waited until Phi’s back was turned before swinging down with the pole. It was true that since it was an inanimate object, Phi had no idea where it was in relation to himself, but he could sense where the young woman’s hands were, and the angle she swung the pole with. He tracked the flick of her eyes as she glanced at the end of the pole, giving him a rough idea of its length. With a graceful twist of his feet he turned just enough to let the pole sail past his head harmlessly.

  Ben cried out in shock as Kara struck the ground with the pole. Phi simply turned to face Kara. “Would you like to try again?” He asked lightheartedly.

  With a frustrated grunt, Kara brought the pole back. “You were lucky, your little dance didn’t do anything.” She let out a shout as she thrust the pole towards Phi. Once again Phi shifted his weight, stretching his right hand outwards in a loose fist. As the pole brushed past his hand, he twisted his wrist around the shaft of the pole in a quick flick. The force was enough to cause Kara to let go as the pole spun to the far end of the yard with a light thud.

  “That was so awesome!” Ben squealed as he started to pantomime Phi’s movements with the exaggerated enthusiasm of youth.

  “Do you wanna give up?” Phi asked.

  Kara cursed as she stomped over to the pole and picked it up again with a huff. The teen had a lot of pent up anger, her mother had confided as such in Phi that the child had been struggling with the passing of her father. Kara had become embittered and quick to temper by her grief. While Ben had turned inward, his fears gnawing at him like a parasite.

  Phi still remembered the first time he had met the children’s mother Gail, she had been smoking on her back staircase when he had come out to inspect the yard. She was friendly and kind, and under an incredible amount of stress as she struggled to process the loss of her husband while having to work herself to death to keep food on the table for her children. Phi was surprised when Gail had asked if he would be willing to keep an eye out on the kids, she seemed to be worried that with her being gone so much that they might end up getting into trouble.

  His focus was pulled back to the present as Kara charged at him with the pole again. This time she swung it in a wild arc at his waist. It was a simple matter to stop the blow with his left palm. Kara exploded with anger as she started swinging wildly, each time Phi effortlessly twisted out of the path of the blow or redirected it with a nudge.

  With a quick twist of his neck Phi dodged the rock that had been thrown by Ben. He turned towards the young man with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t mind if you both attack me.” A look of concern crossed Ben’s face as he picked up a stick and rushed towards Phi’s back.

  Phi sped up his movements, blocking and deflecting blow after blow with terrifying speed. He could tell the kids were growing more and more frustrated that they couldn’t land a single hit, their attacks growing reckless and frantic. As they both raised their weapons in the air at once, Phi dropped, spinning with an outstretched leg as he tripped both of the kids with ease.

  The pair cried out as they came crashing towards the ground, at the last moment Phi reached out and stopped the kids right before they hit the dirt, gently lowering them the last few inches. The kids laid in the grass trying to catch their breaths as Phi stood and stretched out his arms. “Well, that was a nice warm up for the day.” He said with a smile.

  Kara struck the ground with a fist. “Fuck!” She pointed a finger towards Phi. “You cheated somehow!”

  A new voice called out from the sidelines. “He didn’t have to cheat. Not with that pathetic display.” Thoren stood on the steps to the house with a cup of coffee.

  “Who are you calling pathetic?!”

  With a bored expression Thoren stirred his coffee with a spoon. “I just call them as I see them. You couldn’t even hit an unarmed blind man with two people, that’s pretty sad.” He said as he took a sip of his coffee with a loud slurp.

  Ben and Kara turned to Phi in unison and yelled. “You’re blind?!”

  Clearing his throat, Phi scratched his cheek. “Technically, yes.”

  Thoren took another long sip before putting his coffee down on the railing of the small staircase. With slow steps he walked toward the pole on the ground, placing his foot under the middle of its length. A quick flick of his foot launched the pole into the air in front of him as he grabbed the length of wood and spun it with shocking speed, thrusting the end of the pole into Phi’s neck before he could respond. The pole came to a stop a hair's breadth away from connecting.

  Phi flinched slightly, ashamed that he hadn’t been able to follow Thoren’s strike at all. He pulled back the pole and threw it towards Kara’s chest, knocking her back as she fumbled to hold it. “That is how you use a spear.” He said as turned his back, heading towards his waiting cup of coffee.

  Kara stuttered as she called out to Thoren. “C-can you teach me how to do that?”

  “Why should I show a pissed off teenager how to properly hurt people she dislikes? Somehow I doubt you want to learn how to handle a spear to defend yourself.”

  “Please, maybe if I learn how to use it I can join the local guards.” Kara clenched the pole with white knuckles, her face crimson red.

  “Nope, I don’t believe you.” Thoren said flatly.

  With tears stinging her face Kara looked at Thoren. “I want to make the people who killed my father pay! I’m so tired of being weak, of being a burden to my mom. My dad deserves to be avenged!” Her voice was hoarse and raw from emotion as she shook with rage.

  Phi turned to Kara. “I thought your father died from a work injury?” He asked.

  Ben answered before Kara could, curling his knees to his chest as he placed his forehead on his knees. “Our bills were getting to be too much so dad took on some work on the side. He ended up with a shady work crew that cut corners when it came to safety equipment. His harness broke while he was working on one of the bridges, he didn’t survive the fall into the ocean below.” As he neared the end of his story his voice trailed off into a whisper.

  Kara spat on the ground. “And those bastards that he worked for got off with a minor fine, rumor is they paid the inspector!” She shook her head. “It’s not fair. Those bastards deserve to pay for what they did.”

  Phi opened his mouth to comfort the child but was beaten to the punch by Thoren’s unenthused voice. “That’s it?”

  “What do you mean ‘that’s it’?” Kara stepped towards Thoren as she raised her voice. “My father is dead because of those bastards!”

  “No, your father is dead because he didn’t check his harness before trusting his life with it.” Under his breath he whispered just loud enough to be heard by everyone. “Sounds like he wasn’t playing with a full deck if you ask me.”

  Kara and Ben screamed in unison as they both charged at Thoren with their weapons in hand, as they both swung with all their might Thoren reached out and grabbed the poles, stopping them mid swing. Lifting his leg he shoved Kara back to the ground with his foot as he spun and tripped Ben. Both kids hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out from them.

  Phi took a step towards Thoren, his blood boiling at this heavy handed display of force. Thoren held a hand up for Phi to wait as he walked over to Kara and offered her a hand.

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  It was obvious her pride was hurt as Kara took the preferred hand. Thoren helped Ben to his feet next as he spoke softly. “Let this be a lesson on why revenge is the worst driving force in a fight. You make it easy for your enemies to take advantage of your blind rage.” He turned to the kids with a sad expression. “I’m sorry for pushing you to anger. I needed to demonstrate to you both what would happen if you continue on this path. I’m not saying that those that lead to your father’s accident shouldn’t be held accountable, but if you rush in without thinking you will just end up throwing your life away for nothing.”

  “He’s right.” Phi said. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be stronger, to have the power to stand tall and defend yourself and those you love. Father Herschel taught me that.”

  Kara looked away. “You don’t know what it’s like though, to know that those monsters are out there living their lives like my dad’s death didn’t mean anything.” She said bitterly.

  Phi took a deep breath. “Do you know what happened to Father Herschel?”

  A perplexed look crossed Kara and Ben’s faces. “No. What happened?”

  “The villagers he had served for his whole life killed him without hesitation before my eyes.”

  At that statement, even Thoren’s face grew still as he turned to face Phi. Without waiting, Phi continued on with his story. “I struggled with the idea of getting my revenge for a long time. I used to lay awake at night dreaming about how if I ever returned to my home that I would make them pay for their crimes. Over the years I learned to let the anger go, I realized that hurting those people would never bring Herschel back. More than anything I realized that turning myself into that kind of monster would be the last thing Father Herschel would have wanted for me. I would be spitting on the memory of him by lowering myself to such a level.” He looked up as he finished his story, the memories of that terrible night flashing before him as he let out a shuddering breath and accepted the pain.

  Kara and Ben shared a look as they both looked at Phi and Thoren. “Can you teach us how to be stronger?”

  Thoren raised an eyebrow. “For revenge?”

  Shaking her head Kara responded. “I don’t think so.”

  Surprisingly, Thoren nodded. “Better. I can work with that. That’s if your mom is okay with this. Considering I knocked you both to the ground I would put my money on her slapping me and telling me never to come near you kids again.” He said with a weak smile.

  From the second floor of the kids’ house came a laugh. There leaning through an open window was Gail, her hair a tangled mess from her interrupted nap. “Well, if they want to learn how to protect themselves, I don’t mind.” She called down.

  Thoren gave a wave. “I apologize, I might have been a bit too rough with them earlier.”

  Gail barked out a chuckle as she addressed Thoren by his false name. “Mister Thomas, thank you for teaching them a valuable lesson. So I’ll overlook it this time, but if you rough house again I will kick your ass up and down the street.” Her smile was jovial, though the look in her eyes was anything but.

  “You have my word ma’am.” Thoren said with a bow.

  Phi turned to the kids again as he readied his stance. “Ready for another round?”

  With a look of determination the pair of teens picked up their weapons and got into their own stances. Thoren made his way to each and corrected their footing and posture, it was obvious he had years of experience training new recruits. After every strike he would show Kara and Ben how to improve their form and where they were weak.

  Phi smiled to himself, the world might be on the brink of disaster, but at least in this small yard it had felt like he had helped make a difference. Even if this journey didn’t end up being the holy quest he had envisioned, he felt proud that he was here to help.

  ◆◆◆

  The walk to their destination would have taken hours, even for Fel. They could have made it in a fraction of the time but they were trying to avoid sticking out as much as possible. Thankfully Fulcrest had something truly unique to it, trolleys. These large passenger carts were used to get around the city quickly. It took some time to get used to the layout of the city and more than once Fel had grabbed the wrong trolley only to end up lost and without their bearings.

  The roads of Fulcrest had multiple pairs of grooves in each road for the trolleys to run along as tracks, power was fed through a third groove in the road that each trolley was connected to by a cable and roller that were located under the trolley. Even the bridges were built with these convenient transports in mind, which Fel was very thankful for. Today their business brought them over to the far shore. It had taken the better part of a week to track down their goal, but today was the day they finally made contact with their informant. Hopefully he was in a talkative mood.

  The trolley Fel sat on was currently half way over the largest of the three bridges, they looked out the window at the vast ocean below. Being this close to salt water made them uneasy. The argument earlier still lingered in the back of their mind as they took in the view. Even Phi was starting to question them, that was troubling indeed. Fel could obfuscate the truth for only so long, soon they would have to try something truly terrifying. Honesty.

  Though perhaps they should still refrain from the whole truth. At that thought their eyes flicked to the seat across from them and the pair of shades sitting there, eternally watching. After eight hundred years, I thought you would have both grown bored of this. The shadows seemed to grow agitated in response.

  As Fel scanned the rest of the trolley car, their eyes fell on the man in the back pretending to read a newspaper. Fel was aware that they were always being followed by the king’s agents, frankly they would have been more upset if the king hadn’t sent someone to keep an eye on them. Although, they could at least send some better agents. The man’s soul shifted hues, he knew he had been made. With a shake of his head he stood and walked over to Fel.

  The man was in his fifties, or at least that was how he wanted to appear. He wore a three piece suit, navy blue in color. “Until you came along I thought I was pretty good at my job.” He said as he held out the paper to Fel. “I figured you would like to hear about this.”

  Fel smirked. “If it makes you feel better, I can see things others can’t. So in a sense I’m cheating.” They reached out and grabbed the paper from the man, opening the page to where the man had folded it. The headline read in big bold letters, THE KING OF THE BLACK COAST SURVIVES ATTEMPT ON LIFE, WAS IT A HUNTING ACCIDENT, OR THE WORK OF THE ARCHENEMY OF MANKIND?

  Under the headline was a picture of Alnur wearing his ceremonial uniform and shaking hands with some pompous looking noble. His friendly face was now scarred with a myriad of cracks, there was a large crystal shard where his eye should have been but he still had his warm smile. The apathy inside tried to quash the flare of emotions, but they proved too strong for the darkness. A tear fell down Fel’s face for the first time in many years. Reaching out a hand, she touched the picture of her brother. The shades across from her seemed to grow more and more violent as they swirled and crackled with anger.

  The outburst of emotions lasted only a scant moment, a warmth in their chest blooming for the first time in decades, only to fade away once more. Looking up at the man, Fel placed a hand on his arm. “Thank you.” They turned away, looking back over the ocean once more as the darkness eroded the last embers of the warmth.

  The man looked uneasy as he made his way back to his seat, leaving Fel to themself.

  After switching trolley’s a few times, Fel found themselves at their destination. It was no wonder they had had trouble finding the place, it had been fifty years since they were last here, in that time Fulcrest had been hard at work building anything and everything they could on any free plot of land they could find. Fel walked around the same block a few times, looking for any alleys or cracks to squeeze through. Nothing. They would have to go over the buildings it would seem.

  As they looked around to see if the crowds of people would notice a nearly seven foot tall person leap a building, the door to the house in front of them opened. An old woman peeked out at Fel with a broad smile. “You look lost dear. Can I help you find something?” She asked warmly as her smile deepened.

  Fel gave a quick exhale of amusement. “Maybe you could. Do you have a backyard perhaps?”

  The woman looked perplexed for a moment. “Well, I did have a door to the back, but they built all these new buildings and now it doesn’t really lead anywhere. Did you wanna have a look anyways?”

  “I would love to.” Fel said as they approached the woman. The woman gestured enthusiastically for them to enter.

  Every inch of the woman’s house was filled with pictures or mementos. The smiling faces of her children, and their children stared back from the framed photos. With cane in hand the woman slowly made her way through the narrow hall to the kitchen, the window that had faced the other side of the house had been boarded over a long time ago. But beside the kitchen was a door with no knob. “Well, this was the door. Now where did I put that knob?” The woman mused to herself as she rummaged through drawers.

  Fel walked over to the door, there in the grains of wood that made the surface of the door were sigils and symbols that were almost invisible. They felt the barrel of the shotgun press against their back as the woman’s tone hardened. “Who sent you?” The shotgun was steady, far more stable than a woman in her eighties could manage.

  “I thought you would have died by now Barb. Though if anyone was stubborn enough to scare off my Father it would be you, you old goat.” Fel said with a grin as they turned towards the woman.

  Barb’s face twisted with confusion, her head slowly cocked as an impossible realization hit her. “Fia?” She said dumbfounded.

  “I go by Fel now.”

  Barb cast the shotgun aside as she held her hands up to her chest. “By the Old One!” She cursed. “But I saw you die, I held you as your body turned to dust!”

  Fel stepped forward and pulled back the hood. “This is my current host. I’m surprised you're still alive Barb, I tried to look up your name in the city records but you must have changed your family name.”

  “Aye. Barb Quill is the name I go by now. But Fia, er, Fel. What the hells are you doing here? You die and fuck off for fifty years and then just show up on my doorstep asking about my backyar-.” It dawned on Barb. “You wanna enter the church?!” She hissed.

  “Unfortunately, I need answers only they can provide. The Nightfather gave me a mission, but as usual, he could only give me tidbits of cryptic nothings. I need more to go off of.”

  Barb walked over to a glass cabinet and threw open the door. She angrily grabbed a bottle of dark liquor and ripped the stopper out. Draining half of the bottle with frightening speed. She looked back at Fel with a sour look on her face. “I don’t wanna hear anything else! If I hurry I might be able to drink enough to black this all out. You come in here spouting things that could get me and my family killed. I want nothing to do with it Fia! Fel! Whatever the fuck your name is now!” She yelled while pointing the bottle at Fel for emphasis.

  Fel opened their mouth to speak but Barb wasn’t finished. “For thirty years I have been tasked with watching over that cursed building, time and time again I had to put my life on the line to keep people from wandering in there. All the while having to keep my wits incase I draw the eyes of that fucking Court of chucklefucks.” She huffed as she caught her breath for a moment after her tirade. Fel gestured if she was done. Barb took another swig while holding up a middle finger to Fel. “I grieved for you, you bitch! All the while you were just waltzing around with a new hot body. Would it have killed you to send a letter?! No!” She threw open a drawer without looking and tossed the door knob to Fel. “Just go and do whatever it is you need to do and leave me to die in peace!” She shouted as she stormed off towards the main room.

  With a heavy sigh, Fel turned back to the enchanted door. The door knob slid back into its home, as the wards and sigils came to life. The locks that sealed the door fell away as they opened the door to the courtyard. There, standing surrounded on all sides by taller stone buildings was a steepled church of blackened rotten wood.

  The church was obsidian in color, it wasn’t that the wood was actually black, it was that the power of this place absorbed every speck of light that touched it. It hurt the eyes to look at for long. They walked towards the building, it was larger than they remembered. The wood of the structure was slick and oily with moisture and mildew. As they placed a hand on the railing of the short staircase, they felt all of the heat leave their skin. It wasn’t cold exactly, it was more like it was numb. With slow, steady steps, Fel walked up to the door. Symbols were etched into the heavy set doors in Voidtongue. ‘The halls of the Old One welcome all.’

  Fel swallowed a lump in their throat as they opened the door, a rush of stale moldy air assaulted them as they held back the urge to gag. Walking through the threshold they felt the cold comfort of the void wash over them. This was a place removed from reality, a weak spot where universes could commingle, where the eyes of the Celestials were blind to watch.

  Like letting out a breath that had been held for too long, Fel relaxed her form. Her body twisted and shifted into its natural shape. Floating forward towards the dark recesses of the church, the candle sticks lining the walls of the church came to life on their own, casting a dull glow over the pews that ran the length of the main aisle. There on the wall hung effigies to the five Old Gods, their respective masks of bone staring down in judgment.

  Fel came to a rest in the air before the masks, clasping each of their sets of hands together in prayer. They tried to remember the words of summoning, it had been such a long time since they last spoke them. The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled Fel from their stupor as they turned to look down. Sitting on one of the closest pews near the pulpit was a well dressed man. The man had a cunning face and a warm smile. His long hair and short trimmed beard were salt and pepper in color. He held a cane across his crossed legs as he gestured to the seat next to him. As Fel descended to the seat, they noticed the man’s glowing blue eyes.

  “I wasn’t expecting to be greeted by a host. And a Serulean at that. I thought your kind was better than debasing themselves with the powers of the Void.” Fel said as they sat next to the man.

  Stroking his beard the refined man gave a smile. “Well. My circumstances were a bit unique. Most are given the choice to host when they are at death’s door, I might be the first to seek them out and offer myself willingly.” Noticing the shock on Fel’s face the man waved away their question. “That is a story for another day. Now, why have you come here child?” He asked, turning those ever shifting eyes towards Fel.

  Fel leaned forward on their knees with one of their sets of arms. Intertwining the others in front of them. “You already know the answer to that question. You wouldn’t be the weaver if you didn’t.”

  “Why are you so certain that I am the weaver of fate? For all you know I could be chaos.”

  “You seem too sane to be the host of that lunatic.” Fel said plainly.

  The man let out a sharp laugh. “Too true! Fine, you are correct. I have an idea of what brought you here, but we both know that probability and chance can only do so much. The threads showed you coming here, but they can’t tell me what feelings made you think this was the best choice. I came today not as the weaver of fate, but simply as a concerned citizen, offering a bit of counsel to a person in need.”

  Fel looked at the man with a dead stare. “Does that bullshit work on anyone?” They asked.

  “Sometimes.” The man shrugged.

  When he didn’t continue talking Fel gave a sigh. “I think I have the gist of the situation, but I need more information. I know better than to ask you for those answers, in your fixation with ‘balance’ you would only give me riddles within riddles. So I’ll keep it simple.” They turned to face the host, their eyes glowing with otherworldly energy. “Where. Are. They?” Their words came out with enough force to blow the man's hair back and snuff out a few of the candles on the wall.

  The host seemed unmoved by their display of power. He simply raised a hand to move a tuft of hair from his face. For a long moment he sat still, seemingly lost in thought. No doubt he was thinking about some witty reply that didn’t answer their question. Or perhaps a cryptic phrase that would make sense in hindsight but would cau-

  “In one week a ship will head up the river. ‘The Dawn’s light’. You and your traveling companions will be on board. You will travel for three weeks aboard this ship, when you arrive at Glennburg you will disembark and head east until you find a fishing hamlet that isn’t on any map, or census. There you will find what you are after.” The man said quickly with a smile.

  Blinking slowly, Fel sat there with their mouth agape. “That’s it? What happened to the accord?” They said with disbelief.

  The host’s smile deepened as he stood up and made his way towards the far wall. “Fuck the accords. Something is trying to upset the order of the world. And for once, I am not going to sit back and let it happen while I watch helplessly.” He reached out and moved a sharp looking candelabra to the left a few inches, then with a glance over his shoulder at the roof, he moved it a touch more.

  “Won’t your shard be displeased by you sharing such knowledge? You are only meant to nudge the scales, not place your entire hand on them!” Fel was aghast at the ramifications of what this host had just committed. This went against the very foundations of the accords.

  “Child. What does it tell you that I am so flippant with the rules?” He asked with a serious tone to his voice.

  Fel placed a hand to their head as they tried to think. They bolted upright as it dawned on them. “Because you’re confident that those that could hold you accountable, aren’t in a position to.” They looked to the man as he gave a nod of approval.

  The host's tone shifted, it was dark and carried the weight of the world. “The Celestials are no longer in control. Even I don’t know why or how, but they have gone quiet. They have retreated in the past, turned inwards for long periods of time. But this is the first time they have completely removed their presence in such a way.” Placing a hand on the wall the man looked into a distant place between worlds. “That’s not all. For the first time since we gained consciousness, one of the first stars has vanished from the night sky.”

  Everything grew distant and cold as Fel’s ears began to ring. They blinked slowly as they looked towards the host with panic in their eyes. There was a small part of their mind that was surprised that they could still feel such a primordial fear in their gut. “If that’s true. I have to get to them all the faster. Can’t I get there sooner if I leave immediately?”

  “If you convinced the king to lend you his personal craft, you could leave tomorrow and be there in a fraction of the time. But, there would be consequences to rushing.”

  “What are the odds they survive if we wait?” Fel asked.

  With a slight sigh the host lifted up three fingers. “I give them a thirty two percent chance of survival.” The man seemed to be mumbling calculations under his breath. “Fifty nine percent if you leave tomorrow.”

  Fel stood in a rush as they turned to leave. “There’s no time to waste, I have to go.” They hurried down the aisle without another word to the host, if they sprinted they might be able to get an audience with the king today. It would probably be best to send word to Phi and Thoren to have them meet Fel at the king's keep. They could use their help convincing Samantha that this wasn’t a terrible idea.

  Sprinting into Barb’s house, Fel stopped for a moment before the front door. Turning to face their old friend. Barb was sitting in her chair with an empty bottle in her hand as she held her other hand to her head. Fel took a breath before speaking in the most heartfelt voice they could muster. “I wanted to send you word that I was alive. But I thought you would be better off without me fucking up your life anymore than I already had.” They didn’t wait for a response as they opened the door. “I’m sorry, Barb.” Without turning back, they sprinted down the streets, easily outpacing the trolleys as they made their way towards the central island.

  Fel stopped only long enough to have a message sent to the far bank, along with the address, they sent a message to be delivered to the boys. Hopefully they could make it in time if they hustled.

  ◆◆◆

  As Fel ran off into the distance, leaving the church behind. The host of fate stood for a moment in thought. He mused to himself aloud. “While the chances of your target surviving might have increased; the chances of the three of you surviving tonight has fallen to twelve point seven percent. I hope you are prepared to pay that price, child of death.”

  Glancing down at the spiked candelabra he moved it a hair more to the left. “Make that twelve point nine percent.”

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